Blogs; By M.Jalilian
'Blog Types:' There are many different types of blogs, differing not only in the type of content, but also in the way that content is delivered or written. Personal Blogs: A personal blog is an ongoing diary or commentary by an individual and is the traditional, most common blog. One type of personal blog, referred to as a microblog, is extremely detailed and seeks to capture a moment in time. Microblogging: It is the practice of posting small pieces of digital content which could be text, pictures, links, short videos, or other media on the Internet. Corporate and Organizational Blogs: Blogs used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or public relations purposes are called corporate blogs. By Genre: Some blogs focus on a particular subject such as politics blogs, health blogs, travel blogs (also known as travelogs), education blogs (also known as edublogs), legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs) and the like. Two common types of genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs. A blog featuring discussion about home and family is usually called a mom blog. Lastly, one used for the sole purpose of spamming is known as a splog! By Media: A blog comprising videos is called a vlog, one comprising links is called a linklog and the one comprising photo is called a photoblog. By Device: Blogs can also be defined by the type of device used to compose them. A blog written by a mobile device like a mobile phone or PDA could be called a moblog. Reverse Blog: A reverse blog is composed by its users rather than a single blogger. This system has the characteristics of a blog, and the writing of several authors. These can be written by several contributing authors on a topic, or opened up for anyone to write. There is typically some limit to the number of entries to keep it from operating like a Web Forum. 'Weblog benefits in education:' Weblogs have huge potentials in an educational setting because: 1) Writing to the Web is easy 2) There is a wide audience Blogs provide following educational advantages. They can: · Promote critical and analytical thinking · Be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking · Promote analogical thinking · Be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information · Combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction What is more, blogs can be used as class portals, online filing cabinets for student work, e-portfolios, collaborative space, knowledge management, and even school Web sites. Using the blogs, students build relationships with peers, teachers, mentors and professionals within the Weblog environment. 'Class Portal ' Class portal is an entry which is built to communicate information about the class and to archive course materials. From a teaching standpoint, having a place to publish the course curriculum, syllabus, class rules, homework assignments, rubrics, handouts and presentations makes a Weblog a powerful course management tool. Class portals save time and money. They also notify parents when new information about the class is posted. In addition, they provide easy communication with peers who might be teaching the same course. Finally, they provide transparency for school superiors who want to check the class activities and progression. 'Online Filing Cabinet' A digital filing cabinet is a good chance where the class can go paperless as students simply post their work online for peer and teacher response. At the same time, they archive their work and create a space for an online portfolio of work. This has a number of advantages: First, students never misplace their work and neither does the teacher. Nothing is lost and teachers can enforce strict deadlines. Second, it provides opportunities for student reflection to look back and see their accomplishment. Remember that Weblogs are searchable. Finally, as Weblogs are transparent, it’s easy for parents, counselors, mentors and peers to follow a student work on the blog. Now if students had Weblog setup from the time they started school to the time they graduated, they could have a history of their work for reflection or future study. 'E-Portfolio' On blog portfolio students collect the work they might want to consider highlighting in their portfolio and then they select those that represent their best work. They then reflect on the choices they made. Finally, they publish the result for others to see. 'Collaborative Space' One of the biggest potentials of weblogs is the ability to create spaces where students can learn from each other or from authors or scientists who may be far away physically. 'Knowledge Management and Articulation' Indeed, blogs are a great way of communicating internally as well. School committees can use a blog to archive meetings, continue dialogues between get-togethers, share links to relevant information, and store documents and presentations for further use. In addition, districts can use Weblogs as articulation tools to highlight and share best practices, lesson plans, and “learning objects” such as worksheets or projects. 'School Web Site ' Finally, Weblogs can be used as building blocks for a school Web site. They can be used to update school Web sites. If a school Web site is composed of several different blogs, it will move from a static, wait-for-the-webmaster-to-update-it type site to a dynamic, everyday-there’s-something-new type site.